Hearing begins in case of slain Carlsbad teacher

San Diego  About a year before his death, the mother of a slain Carlsbad High School teacher began keeping notes on her daughter-in-law, listing her concerns as it became clear that the couple was headed for divorce.

Lina Harper testified in a Vista courtroom Tuesday that her son’s wife had exhibited “retaliatory” behavior in the past, and that she “takes revenge and sabotages.” She said her son had told her just a few days before his death that the wife had written checks from his account without his knowledge.

But despite the strained relationship, the family managed to have dinner together the night before 39-year-old Jason Harper was fatally shot.

That was the last time Lina Harper saw her son alive. The next day she tried contacting him to see if he needed her to babysit his three children, but got no response.

“I felt very uneasy,” she said. “He knew we were waiting to hear from him. It just didn’t seem right.”

Julie Harper, a 39-year-old stay-at-home mother, now faces a murder charge and a gun-use allegation in connection with her husband’s death.

A judge is expected to determine at the end of the preliminary hearing whether prosecutors presented enough evidence for Julie Harper to stand trial. If convicted, she could be sent to prison for 50 years to life.

She was arrested Aug. 8, at her father’s Scripps Ranch home. Her attorney had arranged her surrender to police.

A day earlier, her husband’s body was found in the upstairs master bedroom of the couple’s home. He had been shot once in his left side.

Carlsbad police Lt. Bruce May testified Tuesday that he received a call Aug. 7 about 11 p.m. from defense attorney Paul Pfingst, who said to check the welfare of a person in the house on Badger Lane.

Police found Jason Harper’s body lying face down in the cluttered room, with several items — including a sheet, a pillow and a duffel bag — piled on top of it.

May testified he had responded to the house in November 2011, when someone there called 911 and then hung up. When he arrived, he heard a man and a woman — later identified as the Harpers — arguing loudly.